USS Bryant (DD-665)

USS "Bryant" (DD-665) was a "Fletcher"-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named for Rear Admiral Samuel W. Bryant (1877–1938).

"Bryant" was launched 29 May 1943 by Charleston Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. Samuel W. Bryant, widow of Rear Admiral Bryant; and commissioned 4 December 1943, Commander Paul Laverne High in command.

1944

After fitting out at the Charleston Navy Yard, "Bryant" conducted a month-long shakedown cruise near Bermuda before returning to Charleston on 28 February 1944 for a 10-day, post-shakedown availability. The destroyer then set sail for the Boston Navy Yard and arrived there on the 13th. Two days later, she and , and four destroyers — steamed into the strait from the south during mid-watch on the 25th. Deployed to the east side of the strait, "Bryant", USS|Halford|DD-480|2, and USS|Robinson|DD-562|2 comprised one of the three destroyer sections assigned to screen Rear Admiral Oldendorf's left-flank cruisers. By the time "Bryant" closed within range of the enemy column, many of his ships had been sunk or were burning as a consequence of the right-flank destroyers’ torpedo attack and the gunfire of the battleships and cruisers in the battle line. At 03:39, under the cover of salvos from the battleships and cruisers, the trio commenced their attack to the starboard side of the enemy battle line as it pressed northward. "Bryant" closed to convert|8800|yd|m|-2 and loosed a spread of five torpedoes, none of which found their target, and then retired unscathed to a position near Hibuson Island.

After receiving word that American escort carriers had come under fire in the Battle off Samar, TG 77.2 discontinued pursuit of Nishimura's force and steamed to aid the baby flattops. When the task group arrived too late to influence events near Samar, it dispatched "Bryant" to a radar picket station between Suluan and Dinagat Islands. Although the majority of 7th Fleet units returned to Ulithi at the end of October to rest after the nearly-continuous operations of the summer, "Bryant", three battleships, four cruisers, and 12 other destroyers remained in Surigao Strait lest the Japanese attempt another thrust through that entrance to Leyte Gulf. No surface threat materialized, but the task group endured repeated air attacks on 1 November which, according to the destroyer's war diaries, the Japanese pilots pressed home with "fanatic determination." Though "Bryant" splashed one of the enemy dive bombers, the kamikaze suicide planes wreaked havoc on the destroyers, damaging five and sending USS|Abner Read|DD-526|2 to the bottom. After two more weeks of uneventful patrols in Surigao Strait, she departed those dangerous waters and headed for the Admiralty Islands, tallying an enemy plane enroute.

She reached Seeadler Harbor on 21 November and promptly commenced a much-needed six days of voyage repairs and replenishment. The destroyer set sail on the 28th, fueled from USS|Nashville|CL-43|2 at sea, and reached Leyte Gulf on 2 December. She patrolled off Leyte for two weeks before anchoring in San Pedro Bay. There, "Bryant" joined the first resupply echelon bound for Mindoro since that island had been invaded on the 15th. The supply convoy departed late on the 19th with "Bryant", the primary fighter director for the convoy, responsible for coordinating combat air patrol (CAP). Two days into the voyage, she stood a severe test on that capability. Following an inconsequential dawn raid by two Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar" Army fighters, the Japanese fell upon the convoy that evening with a tenacious attack involving approximately 30 planes. As the enemy pilots pressed toward the landing ships located in the center of the formation, antiaircraft fire from "Bryant" felled one enemy flier and assisted in the splashing of another. However, three "Oscars" broke through the screen and crashed into "LST-460", "LST-749", and the Liberty ship "Juan de Fuca", sending both of the amphibious ships to the bottom.

The next morning, the convoy reached Mindoro, and the destroyers formed a circular screen about five miles (8 km) from the beach to cover the unloading of the remaining landing ships. At 09:45, as "Bryant" waited on station, her commanding officer sighted a Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" fighter at convert|4000|yd|m|-3. The pilot commenced a suicide run, and the destroyer maneuvered furiously to unmask her battery to starboard. Despite hits from "Bryant"'s 20-millimeter and 40-millimeter guns, the kamikaze seemed destined to strike her at the number 2 stack. However, the plane overshot the target, the right wing narrowly clearing a 40-millimeter mount, and splashed convert|50|yd|m|-1 away just even with the bridge. As the plane disappeared beneath the waves, it exploded, showering the agile warship with fragments of the tail assembly. These punctured her portside shell plating in numerous places and injured one of her crewmen. That evening, after the LSTs unloaded, the convoy reformed and returned to Leyte where "Bryant" anchored for the remainder of the year.

1945

On 2 January 1945, she departed Leyte Gulf in the screen of the battleships and cruisers in TG 77.2's fire-support unit. During the approach to Luzon, the Japanese subjected the task group to a series of heavy air raids which inflicted damage on several ships. Early on the 9th, "Bryant" closed the beach to provide fire support for the Lingayen landings, then patrolled the area, weathering heavy seas and high winds, during the next week to parry a possible incursion by the enemy. Following a two-day visit to Leyte, the warship entered Ulithi lagoon on 26 January for three weeks of replenishment and preparation for the invasion of Iwo Jima.

On 10 February, she got underway in company with TG 52.19, conducted rehearsals near Saipan from the 12th through the 14th, and reached Iwo Jima two days later. While the island received a ferocious pounding from air and sea during the two days before the landings, "Bryant" provided close-in support to cover beach reconnaissance and minesweepers. On the morning of the 19th, the 4th and 5th Marine Divisionslanded on the eastern shore of Iwo Jima, inaugurating a bloody and hard-fought campaign for the heavily fortified base.

On 27 February, "Bryant" came under heavy fire from a Japanese shore battery, but was saved by the efforts of the USS|West Virginia|BB-48|6. For the balance of February and into March, "Bryant" patrolled her fire support area lashing out at enemy targets when needed and occasionally acting as a radar picket.

On 9 March, she set sail for the Western Carolines. En route, the destroyer made a refueling stop at Saipan, before putting in at Ulithi on the 13th for a week of voyage repairs and tender availability in preparation for the Okinawa assault. On 21 March, she departed for the Ryūkyūs in the antisubmarine screen of the minesweepers. The destroyer rendezvoused with a minesweeping group on the 25th and shepherded them during two days sweeping mines to the west of Okinawa. Over the five days following, she alternated between radar picket duty and gun-fire missions on Japanese efforts to improve their beach defenses.

On 1 April, "Bryant" started two weeks of radar picket duty. Her relatively quiet patrols contrasted with the grim experiences of destroyers on station elsewhere. On 16 April, however, her luck changed. That morning, the Japanese launched a 165-plane kamikaze mission, the third of 10 "kikusui" or "floating chrysanthemum" attacks launched during the Okinawa campaign. USS|Laffey|DD-724|2 suffered the first and most intense attack of the day, being struck by no less than six kamikazes, four bombs, and numerous near misses. "Bryant" received word that "Laffey" required assistance and rushed to aid her. After turning back sporadic attacks, she found herself the target of a coordinated attack by six enemy planes. First, three "Zeke" fighters closed the warship in a shallow glide. Her port batteries dispatched one, and the CAP splashed another; but the third attacker, though hit repeatedly and trailing smoke, made it through and crashed into "Bryant" just below the bridge near the main radio room. A bomb from the kamikaze then exploded, engulfing the entire bridge in flames and doing major damage to communication, fire-control and radar equipment. Damage control teams, standing by to assist "Laffey", extinguished the major fires within a couple of minutes and soon the wounded destroyer was making convert|23|kn|km/h|0. Still, despite the prompt response, the attack exacted a heavy toll. In addition to her human casualties, 34 dead and 33 wounded, the destroyer suffered material damage enough to require repairs in the United States, and so she limped back to Kerama Retto to begin temporary repairs.

On 27 April, with the patching necessary for a homeward voyage completed, she got underway for the United States. Steaming via Guam, Eniwetok, and Pearl Harbor, "Bryant" reached San Francisco on 28 May and, the next day, settled in for a yard overhaul at the United Engineering Co., Ltd., at Alameda. In addition to repair of the battle damage, the yard endeavored to improve her antiaircraft armament. However, the work stretched out over almost four months, and the war ended during the interlude. Finally, on 20 September, she stood out for a six-day "ready for sea" period which exposed a number of electrical problems that remained uncorrected by her overhaul. Declared unfit for duty by her commanding officer, the destroyer steamed southward to San Diego. Soon after her arrival on the 27th, "Bryant" commenced preparations for inactivation and was eventually placed in commission, in reserve, on 9 July 1946. After another 18 months in that bureaucratic limbo, she was decommissioned at last on 15 January 1947. She remained a part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet for nearly 30 years. Then, on 30 June 1968, her name was struck from the Navy List, she was sold in April 1976 to Luria Brothers, and scrapped in July 1976.

Awards

* s during her World War II career.

References

External links

* [http://www.winslowsupply.com/bryant/index.htm USS "Bryant" Veterans Association's official website]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b10/bryant-i.htm history.navy.mil: USS "Bryant"] ("DANFS", revised Nov 2005)
* [http://www.destroyerhistory.org/fletcherclass/commendationdd665.html Text of Navy Unit Commendation Medal]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/665.htm navsource.org: USS "Bryant"]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd665txt.htm hazegray.org: USS "Bryant"]